


Always there

by VNVdarkangel



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2020-05-15 07:09:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19290760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VNVdarkangel/pseuds/VNVdarkangel
Summary: Nico wakes up in the middle of the night, Maki sleeping peacefully next to her. She contemplates the events that led her here.





	Always there

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [How to Handle a Nico](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11966871) by [Ryqoshay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ryqoshay/pseuds/Ryqoshay). 



> Primary Pairing: NicoMaki  
> Time Frame: Late in Maki’s 1st year and Nico’s 3rd year in college. Takes place after the chapter 'Spoken' in "How to handle a Nico" by Ryqoshay

Her eyes opened slowly. For a split second she felt slightly disoriented although she knew exactly where she was. No sounds, no light. Just the dim ambience from the streetlamps outside. She turned slowly, carefully to look at the person beside her, eyes now adjusted to the faint light.

She could dimly see red and pink, almost looking the same in the low illumination. There was a shape, roughly human with a head of red hair. The other person was sleeping, eyes moving under the eyelids and a small smile indicating pleasant dreams.

She lifted her left hand and gently stroked the right cheek of the sleeper who stirred slightly, pressing into the touch.

She still had a hard time to believe it was real, everything was still so new, so fresh.

After all that time, all those arguments, all that longing she had felt… Maki was here. Right here, next to her. Maki wanted to be with Nico, Maki loved Nico, Maki was happy to be with Nico. It was.. wonderful. They were together, at last.

Her eyes rested on the sleeping form of Nishikino Maki.  Whispering, some part of Nico hoped she could hear as she slept.

“You know when this all started? When I started to wonder what was behind that uptight frown? When you talked back to me when Eli joined. Something just said click. No idea what.”

She went back to the memory, trying to remember exactly what Maki had said. Ahh right ‘You’re one to talk Nico-sempai’. Nico-sempai. Now that hadn’t stuck around for long, it soon became Nico-chan. ‘chan’. But only with her. Eli and Nozomi were just that, Eli and Nozomi, no honorifics whatsoever. Only Nico-chan remained. She’d asked herself why she was singled out. When she’d asked Maki, she had, after some teasing admitted that it suited her because it was cute, like her.

She gently stroked Makis’ hair. Maki’s breathing hitched for a second, scaring Nico that she’s woken up her girlfriend.

“Then.. when you indirectly called me cute, why you kept calling me Nico-chan and not just Nico. I was so happy, I felt so special. I hoped that, maybe, you’d figure it out. And I was too scared to tell you how special you were to me. Just walking to the clubroom together became a cherished time for me. I didn’t want to scare you away. We spent more and more time together. You said you never really cared about the idol thing, but when Honoka quit.. you were the one to stop me. You.. were crying. You did care. You loved it, and the people, and.. maybe me too without knowing.”

Maki stirred a bit and turned away from Nico.

“I never told you… I was scared that if we stopped, that I wouldn’t get to see you as much. I wanted you to join me, Rin and Hanyo to continue. But you didn’t. You have no idea how that hurt. I was so mad at you… and so sad.” She sighed.

“But we got over it. Everything was good. You were back… then you told us that µ’s would disband when we left. I knew why, I understood why.. but.. but it meant that you’d be gone again. My friends and most of all you’d be gone. And you stopped me again before I lost it… you said that µ’s should only be ours. That it wouldn’t be right without me. I wanted to kiss you then.. tell you I’d never leave you if you’d let me… but Honoka got in the way.”

Tears formed as the memory played out in her head. The beach, the smell of the sea. Those violet eyes, full of tears and emotion pleading not to loose heart.

Maki curled up a little, was she awake? Was she hearing this?

“Maki-chan?” Nico asked very quietly. No reaction. Still asleep then.

“You know...” Nico continued, “Nozomi knew. She knew all along. She knew I could not approach you then at the station. She knew I needed to let go. I was crying for you, for us. Knowing that I would not see you as much broke my heart. She knew… she always knew.”

She heard something, was that a sniff? Was she just pretending? Nico touched Makis’ cheek. Instant reaction, warmth as Maki nuzzled into the touch.

Nah, she was asleep. No barriers were up. Maybe she did hear and it triggered her dream to shift. Hope nothing bad, Nico thought.

“But for some reason we kept in touch. Sure we had the reunions, but WE did it ourselves because we wanted to. We got closer, slowly until...”

It hurt to think about the memory, they had fought about something trivial, she’d gotten drunk, she’d gotten angry, she’d gotten stabbed. And worst of all, she’d blamed and taken it all out on Maki. Maki, the one who cared about her more than herself, the one that she liked, the one that... had always been there. Tears started to flow from her eyes.

“I’m so sorry”, words barely a whisper, “I’m so sorry. I pushed you away. I was so angry at myself, and I pushed you away.” She scooted closer, gently circling her arms around Maki. “I’d missed you so much, but my pride got in the way.. and you came back… to me. Despite it all. You came back.”

She held on to Maki as if she were drowning. In a way she was, the tears would not stop falling.

“Then you told me you wanted to be more that we were before… that there was something more. We went on a date, we kissed, we confessed. I.. I.. you.. were always there, with me, but sometimes so far away. No longer.”

She fell silent. There was so much more to say, but she’d want Maki to hear it. To see in her eyes how much she loved and cared for her. To hear her reply, to feel her embrace and lips on hers. To be with her.

“I.. I love you so much Maki-chan. I hope I one day can properly tell you.”, she fell silent, holding onto her girlfriend.

“I love you too Nico-chan” came the reply from Maki. The voice was alert.

Huh? What the heck? Nico thought. Had she been awake? How much had she heard?

“ehh.. how much did you hear?” she asked tentatively.

“Something about Eli?”

Maki turned to face Nico. She’d been crying too.

“ohh…yeah… so you heard it all.”

“Nico-chan?”

“Mmmh?”

“I’m sorry I…”

Nico kissed her. Long, soft and comforting.

“Stop apologizing already. You were always there. Even when you weren’t.” She kissed her again.

“Always…” Kiss, “…there.” Kiss.

They looked into each other’s eyes.

“Okaeri” Nico said suddenly with a big smile.

“Tadaima” Maki replied softly, smiling.

She was home.

Home with Nico. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for making it this far. This is the first fic I'm posting/writing so it's a bit of a trail by fire. It's been a very, VERY long time since I wrote anything apart from technical documents so please be constructive in your comments. I am still learning.
> 
> I am writing a multi-chapter story but I got this idea from a re-watch of LL and just had to get it out.
> 
> "How to handle a Nico" has been a major inspiration and I'm attempting to stay within that head-canon and expand on it. A big thank you to Ryqoshay for being open to have my work connect to HthaN and being a sounding board.


End file.
